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Excerpts -
Chapter 1
Introduction
This book addresses some of the most fundamental questions of
existence that human beings have been asking since time immemorial.
How did our universe come into being? Is the world we live in merely
a product of mechanical processes involving inanimate, inert, and
reactive matter? Do we have to assume the existence of superior
cosmic intelligence responsible for the creation and evolution of
the cosmos? Can material reality be explained solely in terms of
natural laws or does it involve forces and principles that elude
such descriptions?
How can we come to terms with such dilemmas as finiteness of time
and space versus eternity and infinity? What is the source of order,
form, and meaning in the universe? What is the relationship between
life and matter, and between consciousness and the brain? Many of
the issues that we will explore in this book have great relevance
for everyday existence. How should we understand the apparent
conflict between good and evil, the mystery of karma and
reincarnation, and the problem of the meaning of human life? ...
This interest began quite unexpectedly and in a very dramatic way in
1956, only a few months after my graduation from medical school,
when I volunteered for an experiment with LSD in the Psychiatric
Department of the School of Medicine in Prague, Czechoslovakia. This
experience profoundly influenced my personal and professional life
and provided the inspiration for my lifelong commitment to
consciousness research. . .
This book ... explores the extraordinary philosophical,
metaphysical, and spiritual insights that have emerged in the course
of this work. The experiences and observations from this research
have revealed important aspects and dimensions of reality that are
usually hidden from our everyday awareness.
Throughout centuries, these experiences and the realms of existence
they disclose have been described in the context of spiritual
philosophies and mystical traditions, such as Vadanta, Hinayana and
Mahayana Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism, Gnosticism, Christian mysticism,
Cabala, and many other sophisticated spiritual systems. The findings
of my research and contemporary consciousness research in general
essentially confirm and support the position of these ancient
teachings. They are thus in radical conflict with the most
fundamental assumptions of materialistic science concerning
consciousness, human nature, and the nature of reality. They clearly
indicate that consciousness is not a product of the brain, but a
primary principle of existence, and that it plays a critical role in
the creation of the phenomenal world.
This research also radically changes our conception of the human
psyche. It shows that, in its farthest reaches, the psyche of each
of us is essentially commensurate with all of existence and
ultimately identical with the cosmic creative principle itself. This
conclusion, while seriously challenging the worldview of modern
technological societies, is in far-reaching agreement with the image
of reality found in the great spiritual and mystical traditions of
the world, which the Anglo-American writer and philosopher Aldous
Huxley referred to as the "perennial philosophy). (pages 1-3)
I will, therefore, narrow our discussion to a large and important
subgroup of nonordinary states of consciousness for which
contemporary psychiatry does not have a specific term. Because I am
convinced that they deserve to be distinguished from the rest and
placed into a special category, I have coined for them the name holotropic.
This composite word literally means "oriented toward
wholeness" or "moving in the direction of wholeness"
(from the Greek holos = whole, and trepein = moving
toward or in the direction of something). The full meaning of this
term and the justification for its use will become clear later in
this book. It suggests that in our everyday state of consciousness
we are not really whole; we are fragmented and identify with only a
small fraction of who we really are.
Holotropic states are characterized by a specific transformation of
consciousness associated with perceptual changes in all sensory
areas, intense and often unusual emotions, and profound alterations
in the thought processes. ...
The emotions associated with holotropic states cover a very broad
spectrum that extends far beyond the limits of our everyday
experience. They range from feelings of ecstatic rapture, heavenly
bliss, and "peace that passeth all understanding" to
episodes of abysmal terror, overpowering anger, utter despair,
consuming guilt, and other forms of extreme emotional suffering. The
intensity of these agonizing experiences can match the descriptions
of the tortures of hell in some of the great religions of the world.
The physical sensations that accompany these states are similarly
polarized. ...
We can also experience extraordinary revelations concerning various
aspects of nature and the cosmos that transcend our educational and
intellectual background. By far the most interesting insights that
become available in holotropic states revolve around philosophical,
metaphysical, and spiritual issues. Exploration of these insights is
the main focus of this book. (pages 5-7)
... A particularly effective technology of the sacred has been
ritual use of psychedelic plants and substances.
These mind-altering techniques have played a critical role in the
ritual and spiritual history of humanity. Induction of holotropic
states has been absolutely essential for shamanism, rites of
passage, and other ceremonies of native cultures. It also
represented the key element of the ancient mysteries of death and
rebirth that were conducted in different parts of the world and
particularly flourished in the Mediterranean area. Holotropic
experiences have been equally important for various mystical
branches of the great religions of the world. These esoteric
traditions have developed a variety of technologies of the
sacred-specific methods of inducing such experiences. Here belong
various forms of yoga, meditation and concentration techniques,
multivocal chanting, whirling of the dervishes, ascetic practices,
the Christian hesychasm or "Jesus prayer," and many
others. (pages 7-8)
During my professional career, I have personally conducted over four
thousand psychedelic sessions with such substances as LSD,
psilocybine, mescaline, dipropyl-tryptamine (DPT), and
methylene-dioxy-amphetamine (MDA), and had access to over two
thousand sessions conducted by my colleagues. A significant
proportion of these sessions involved psychiatric patients suffering
from various forms of emotional and psychosomatic disorders, such as
depression, psychoneurosis, psychosomatic disorders, alcoholism, and
narcotic drug addition.
Another large group consisted of patients suffering from various
forms of cancer, most of them terminal. In this study, the objective
was not only to relieve the emotional distress and severe physical
pain associated with this illness, but also to offer these patients
an opportunity to achieve mystical states in order to alleviate
their fear of death, change their attitude toward it, and transform
their experience of dying. The remaining subjects were "normal
volunteers," such as psychiatrists, psychologists, social
workers, clergy, artists, and scientists from various disciplines,
who volunteered for psychedelic sessions because they sought
understanding and insight. ...
In writing this book, I used the records that I had amassed during
more than forty years of work in the field of consciousness studies.
I have focused specifically on those parts of the records that
described experiences and observations related to basic ontological
and cosmological questions. To my surprise, what emerged from these
accounts of holotropic states was a comprehensive and logically
consistent alternative to the understanding of human nature and of
existence that has been formulated by materialistic science and that
represents the official ideology of the Western industrial
civilization. (pages 9-10)
Chapter 2
Cosmos, Consciousness, and Spirit
When we have experienced to sufficient depth these dimensions that
are hidden to our everyday perception [perinatal and transpersonal],
we typically undergo profound changes in our understanding of
existence and of the nature of reality. The most fundamental
metaphysical insight we obtain is the realization that the universe
is not an autonomous system that has evolved as a result of
mechanical interplay of material particles. We find it impossible to
take seriously the basic assumption of materialistic science, which
asserts that the history of the universe is merely the history of
evolving matter. We have directly experienced the divine, sacred, or
numinous dimensions of existence in a very profound and compelling
way. (page 17)
Particularly frequent in my work have been encounters or even
identification with various deities from different cultures who were
killed by others or sacrificed themselves and later came back to
life. These figures representing death and resurrection tend to
emerge spontaneously when the process of inner self-exploration
reaches the perinatal level and takes the form of psychospiritual
rebirth. At this point, many people have, for example, visions of
crucifixion or experience an agonizing identification with Jesus
Christ on the Cross. The emergence of this motif in individuals with
a Euro-American background seems to make sense, because of the
important role Christianity has over the centuries played in Western
culture.
However, we have also seen many powerful experiences of
identification with Jesus during our holotropic breathwork seminars
in Japan and India. They occurred in individuals whose background
was Buddhist, Shinto, or Hindu. Conversely, many Anglo-Saxons,
Slavs, and Jews identified during their psychedelic or holotropic
breathwork sessions with Shiva or Buddha, the Egyptian resurrected
god Osiris, the Sumerian goddess Inanna, or the Greek deities
Persephone, Dionysus, Attis, or Adonis. Occasional identification
with the Aztec deity of death and rebirth, Quetzalcoatl or the
Plumed Serpent, or one of the Hero Twins from the Mayan Popol Vuh,
were even more surprising, since these deities appear in mythologies
not generally known in the West. (page 23)
However, none of these individuals perceived their experiences of
archetypal figures to be encounters with the supreme principle in
the universe, nor did they claim to have gained an ultimate
understanding of existence. They experienced these deities to be
creations of a higher power that transcended them. This insight
echoes Joseph Campbell's idea that the deities should be
"transparent to the transcendent." They should function as
a bridge to the divine source, but not be confused with it. When we
are involved in systematic self-exploration or spiritual practice,
it is important to avoid the pitfall of making a particular deity
opaque and seeing it as the ultimate cosmic force rather than a
window into the Absolute.
Mistaking a specific archetypal image for the ultimate source of
creation leads to idolatry, a divisive and dangerous mistake
widespread in the histories of religions and cultures. It might
unite the people who share the same belief, but sets this group
against others who have chosen a different representation of the
divine. They might then try to convert others or conquer and
eliminate them. By contract, genuine religion is universal,
all-inclusive, and all-encompassing. It has to transcend specific
culture-bound archetypal images and focus on the ultimate source of
all forms. The most important question in the world of religion is
thus the nature of the supreme principle in the universe. In the
next chapter, we will explore the insights from holotropic states of
consciousness regarding this subject. (page 24)
Chapter 3
The Cosmic Creative Principle
... I therefore searched in the reports of the people with whom I
had worked for states of consciousness that were perceived as
reaching the ultimate frontiers of the human spirit. I was trying to
find out what experiences would convey the sense of encountering the
supreme principle in the universe.
People who had an experience of the Absolute that fully satisfied
their spiritual longing typically did not see any specific
figurative images. When they felt that they attained the goal of
their mystical and philosophical quest, their descriptions of the
supreme principle were highly abstract and strikingly similar. Those
who reported such an ultimate revelation showed quite remarkable
agreement in describing the experiential characteristics of this
state. They reported that the experience of the Supreme involved
transcendence of all the limitations of the analytical mind, all
rational categories, and all the constraints of ordinary logic. ...
The supreme cosmic principle can be experienced in two different
ways. Sometimes, all personal boundaries dissolve or are drastically
obliterated and we completely merge with the divine source, becoming
one with it and indistinguishable from it. Other times, we maintain
the sense of separate identify, assuming the role of an astonished
observer who is witnessing as if from the outside the mysterium
tremendum of existence. Or, like some mystics, we might feel the
ecstasy of an enraptured lover experiencing the encounter with the
Beloved. Spiritual literature of all ages abounds in descriptions of
both types of experiences of the Divine. ...
People who have had the experience of supreme principle described
above know that they have encountered God. However, most of them
feel that the term God does not adequately capture the depth of
their experience, since it has been distorted, trivialized, and
discredited by mainstream religions and cultures. Even the names
like Absolute Consciousness or Universal Mind that are often used to
describe this experience seem to be hopelessly inadequate to convey
the immensity and shattering impact of such an encounter. Some
people consider silence to be the most appropriate reaction to the
experience of the Absolute. For them, it is obvious that "those
who know do not speak and those who speak do not know."
The supreme principle can be directly experienced in holotropic
states of consciousness, but it eludes any attempts at adequate
description or explanation. The language that we use to communicate
about matters of daily life simply is not adequate for this task.
Individuals who have had this experience seem to agree that it is
ineffable. Words and the structure of our language are painfully
inappropriate tools to describe its nature and dimensions,
particularly to those who have not had it. (pages 25 - 27)
The Pregnant Void
The encounter with Absolute Consciousness or identification with it
is not the only way to experience the supreme principle in the
cosmos or the ultimate reality. The second type of experience that
seems to satisfy those who search for ultimate answers is
particularly surprising, since it has no specific content. It is the
identification with Cosmic Emptiness and Nothingness described in
the mystical literature as the Void. It is important to emphasize
that not every experience of emptiness that we can encounter in
nonordinary states qualifies as the Void. People very often use this
term to describe an unpleasant sense of lack of feeling, initiative,
or meaning. To deserve the name Void, this state has to meet very
specific criteria.
When we encounter the Void, we feel that it is primordial emptiness
of cosmic proportions and relevance. We become pure consciousness
aware of this absolute nothingness; however, at the same time, we
have a strange paradoxical sense of its essential fullness. This
cosmic vacuum is also a plenum, since nothing seems to be missing in
it. While it does not contain anything in a concrete manifest form,
it seems to comprise all of existence in a potential form. In this
paradoxical way, we can transcend the usual dichotomy between
emptiness and form, or existence and nonexistence. However, the
possibility of such a resolution cannot be adequately conveyed in
words; it has to be experienced to be understood. ...
On several occasions, people who experienced both the Absolute
Consciousness and the Void had the insight that these two states are
essentially identical and interchangeable, in spite of the fact that
they can be experientially distinguished from each other and that
they might appear conceptually and logically incompatible. These
individuals claimed to have witnessed the emergence of creative
Cosmic Consciousness from the Void or, conversely, its return into
the Void and disappearance. Others experienced these two aspects of
the Absolute simultaneously, identifying with the Cosmic
Consciousness and, at the same time, recognizing its essential
voidness. (pages 29-32)
When we reach experiential identification with Absolute
Consciousness, we realize that our own being is ultimately
commensurate with the entire cosmic network, with all of existence.
The recognition of our own divine nature, our identity with the
cosmic source, is the most important discovery we can make during
the process of deep self-exploration. This is the essence of the
famous statement found in the ancient Indian scriptures, the
Upanishads: "Tat tvam asi." The literal translation of
this sentence is "Thou art That," meaning "You are of
devine nature" or "you are Godhead." It reveals that
our everyday indentification with the "skin-encapsulated
ego," embodied individual consciousness, or "name and
form" (namarupa) is an illusion and that our true nature
is that of cosmic energy (Atman-Brahman).
This revelation concerning the identity of the individual with the
divine is the ultimate secret that lies at the core of all great
spiritual traditions, although it might be expressed in somewhat
different ways. ...
... Since in our true nature we are identical with the cosmic
creative principle, we cannot assuage our cravings by pursuits in
the material world, no matter what their nature and scope. Nothing
short of the experience of mystical unity with the divine source
will quench our deepest longing. (pages 38-40)
It is important to emphasize that the cosmology described in this
book is not in conflict with the facts and observations of any
scientific discipline. What is being questioned and challenged is
the appropriateness of the philosophical conclusions drawn from
these observations. The ideas in this book do not change any of the
specifics described by materialistic science. They simply provide an
overarching metaframework for the phenomena constituting consensus
reality. According to the materialistic worldview, the universe is a
mechanical system that essentially created itself and consciousness
is an epiphenomenon of material processes. The findings of
transpersonal psychology and consciousness research strongly suggest
that the universe might be a creation of superior cosmic
intelligence and consciousness an essential aspect of existence.
(pages 267-268)
Reviews:
"What moves this book into the status of a classic is that
it is in substantial agreement with the world's great wisdom and
spiritual traditions. This modern corroboration of the perennial
philosophy is a stunning achievement and deserves publication to the
widest audiences." -- Ken Wilber, author of Up from Eden: A
Transpersonal View of Human Evoution and The Atman Project: A
Transpersonal View of Human Development
"The Cosmic Game is the latest and best of Stanislav
Grof's extraordinary contributions to our understanding of human
consciousness. This book provides a coherent picture of how
individual experience fits into universal patterns of
consciousness" -- Frances Vaughan, author of Shadows of the
Sacred: Seeing through Spiritual Illusions
"Perhaps the most important of all his works, representing as
it does an integration of the most profound of his clients'
experiences and demonstrating a remarkable convergence with the
deepest spiritual experiences reported across centuries and
cultures. This convergence is a finding of the greatest
significance." -- Roger Walsh, author of The Spirit of
Shamanism
"Grof is the world's leading authority on the deep exploration
of the mind and soul... This is a wonderful gift!" -- Charles
Tart, author of States of Consciousness and Psi:
Scientific Studies of the Psychic Realm
CSP's
Entheogen Chrestomathy entry for The Cosmic Game
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